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Passengers Stuck On Universal Fla. Roller Coaster

BEIJING, CHINA: Beijinger’s visit an indoor movie theme park by US-based giant Universal Studios 19 June 1999 in one of the city’s most modern shopping complexes. As China marches further down the road of openness and reform, Western culture, especially movies and music, has cast it’s spell on a large number of Chinese as communism is slowly eroded by capitalism, and all its trimmings. (ELECTRONIC IMAGE) AFP PHOTO/Stephen SHAVER (Photo credit should read STEPHEN SHAVER/AFP/Getty Images)

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ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A dozen people were stuck for more than two hours on a roller coaster at Universal Studios Florida.

The 12-person train stopped near the top of the first hill of the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit around 7 p.m. EDT Wednesday. Universal spokesman Tom Schroder said they were finally freed around 9:30 p.m.

A glitch caused the computers to go into safety mode, stopping the ride, Schroder said.

“The safety system did exactly what it’s supposed to do,” he said.

The reason the rescue took so long is because park officials wanted to take their time and do it safely, Schroder said. “We spent a lot of that time talking to them (the passengers) and trying to make them as comfortable as we could.”

Several other trains were on the track when the ride stopped, but park workers were able to help those passengers off almost immediately. However, the final train was stuck in a vertical position, more than 150 feet from the ground.

With Orlando Fire Rescue on the scene, the train was moved forward to a horizontal position. The passengers were then able to get off the train and take an elevator down.

No serious injuries were reported, but Schroder said one woman complained of neck pain and went to the hospital as a precaution.

Park officials will now investigate what caused the glitch, Schroder said. It wasn’t immediately clear when the ride would be running again.

“We’re not going to reopen it until we understand what happened and make sure it can’t happen again,” Schroder said.

The ride was previously closed for two days in August. The coaster came to a sudden stop, which caused one woman to sustain a minor injury.

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